BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 2, 2026
John Drouin, a lobsterman in Cutler, put his first few wooden traps out from a skiff with his stepfather as a 13-year-old. As an adult, he took all five children in his blended family out fishing, along with other local kids and their friends; two of his sons are lobstermen today. In remote coastal communities like Cutler, the work is a focus of local life and identity, Drouin said. Drouin is one of the Maine lobstermen frustrated by a child labor law violation case against Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, Maine’s House Minority Leader. The Maine Department of Labor fined him several thousand dollars for employing a child “in a hazardous occupation” temporarily on his lobster boat, which was dropped after an appeal, and for not keeping records of the child’s hours and payment. The case has raised questions about how state and federal laws define which jobs are off limits for kids, and could lead to future guidance from Maine agencies about how children can work on the water.